Liquid-controller.



E. E. HARPER.

LIQUID CONTROLLER. APPLICATION F|LED FEB.14. |914.

l 175,63 l. Patented Mar. 14, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

INVENTOR.

WITNES ES. f?. fue/ew M W WW WW THE COLUMBIA PLArjoGRAPH co,. WASHINGTON. D. c.

E. E. HARPER.

LIQUID CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 14. I9I4.

1,175,63 1 i Patented Mar. 14, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

THE COLUMBIA PMNOQRAPH CD, WASHINGTON, D. c.

rauen.

LIQUID-CONTRO LLER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 14, 1916.

Application filed February 14, 1914. Serial No. 818,742.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that 1, ELMER E. HARPER, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Liquid-Controllers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to a controller, and while I have illustrated and described said invention more particularly as a rate controller' for filters, it has a much wider application, as will be referred to more fully hereinafter.

The object of my invention is to provide a controller which is simple in construction, and which will accurately control the rate of flow of water from a filter, where used in connection with a lter, and which will operate with equal accuracy and advantage in connection with other uses to which it may be applied.

To these ends my invention comprises the novel features hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical elevation of my improved controller partly in section and arranged in connection with a clear water well of a filter where used as a rate controller for such filter; Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional View of the pilot valve; Fig. 3 shows a modified form of my invention; and Figs. 4 and 5 are details of said modification.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 2 designates the effluent pipe from a suitable filter unit. A valve 3 controls the water coming from the effluent pipe, to the clear water well 4, and said valve is preferably a hydraulic gate valve of a common type, which it has not been deemed necessary to illustrate in detail. The extension 5 of the effluent pipe extends down into the clear water well 4, and the lower end of said pipe is provided with the U-shaped portion 6 which forms a water-seal at the discharge end of the effluent pipe. The outlet of the effluent pipe or its extension 5 communicating with the clear water well is provided with the orifice plate 7 formedrof brass or other suitablenon-corrosive metal, and the opening 8 in said plate is somewhat less in size than the internal diameter of the effluent pipe. The size of the opening 8 in this orifice plate 7 is such that under a low head of water (varying, say 3 to 12 inches) it will discharge the maximum amount of water which can be safely filtered during a given intervalv by the filter unit whose rate of discharge is governed by this controller. A pipe 9 connects the extension pipe 5 with the cylinder 10. Vithin the cylinder 10 is the float 11 which is preferably made of metal to which the stem 12 is connected. A guide ring 13 at the lower end of said cylinder 10 is engaged by the projection 14 on said float and in this way the float is properly centered in the cylinder 1U. llie upper end of the stem 12 passes out through the upper end of the cylinder 10 and said stem is threaded as at 15. An arm 16 is carried by the upper end of the stem 12 and the said arm may be raised or lowered and clamped in position by the lock nuts 17. The stem 18 of the pilot valve 19 is connected to the arm 16. rlhe pilot valve 19 is illustrated in detail in Fig. 2 and comprises the piston 20, which controls the ports 2l and 22 leading to the hydraulic gate valve 3, as well as the exhaust port 23.

A. water supply pipe 24 is connected up to the valve 19 and pipes 25 and 26 connect up with the ports 21 and 22 respectively, and to the ports leading into the hydraulic gate Valve 3.

When my improved controller is employed as a rate controller in connection with a filter, it is necessary to properly control the amount of water which can be safely filtered during a given interval by the filter unit whose discharge is governed by the controller and the letter M represents the water level in the clear well above orifice plate 7 which tends to decrease the head or orifice 8, thereby decreasing flow from filter until this water level M rises to a height equal to N in cylinder 10, at which level the filter will be completely shut off. This point may be varied and the normal water level of the water in the clear water well should be slightly below the level of the orifice plate 7 in order to insure the operation of the filter at its normal or usual rate.

l/Vhen the controller is in operation, the supply of water used to operate the hydraulic valve is first turned on 'by the valve 27 in the pipe 24. The weight of the float 1l is sufficient to open the pilot valve which in turn admits water to open the hydraulic valve 3. The water from the filter flows through the effluent pipe and is discharged through the orifice 8 of the orifice plate 7 into the clear water well. At the same time A the water level in the lower partmof the pipe 5 is communicated through the pipe 9 ,to the cylinder and the water in said cylinder rises or begins to rise above the orifice plate which height represents the head under which the water is being discharged through the orifice plate 7. The fioat 11 is weighted so that when the water in the cylinder 10 rises to a predetermined headV N above the orifice plate 7, the iioat Y is in. equilibrium, and in this position the Vthe distance N.

piston or stem of the pilot valve 19 is in such position that water is not admitted to either side of the hydraulic valve 3 which therefore remains stationary as long as said float is in equilibrium. However, the valve 3 is still wide open and if thek filter is clean the discharge of water through the effluent pipe 2 will be such that the head on the orifice plate will become greater than N, which will cause the water in theVV cylinder 10 to rise above N, and at the same time raise the fioat 11. This raising' of the float 11 will admit the water to the pilot valve 19 in such manner that the hydraulic valve 3 will begin -to close slowly, and will continue to close until the discharge through the effluent pipe 2 is throttled down to such an extent that the head on the orifice plate 7 is just equal to After the filter has been operated for somel time, it begins to get dirty, and the amount of water passing through the filter gradually decreases, thus decreasing the head N. As this head decreases, the water in the cylinder 10 begins to fall below the point N causing the float 11 to move downward and thus operating the pilot 19 in such manner that water is admit- ,ted in the hydraulic valve 3 causing it to open slightly to permit more water to flow through the effluent pipe 2, so as to maintain constant head N over the orifice. The longer the filter unit'is kept in operation without washing the more the valve 3 is' opened until it is finally wide open, in order to maintain an effective head equal to Y. Vhen the flow of water is not sufficient to maintain an effective head N then the filter should be washed. If the water in the clear water well is not taken away as fast as it is discharged from the filter it will rise above the normal level and in so doing will tend to throttle or retard the discharge of the jet ,through the opening 8 of the orifice plate 7.

Thisy in turn will cause the water to rise in the cylinder 10, and will raise the fioat 11 which acting through the pilot valve 19 will throttle the valve 3 so that the quantity of water discharged through the orifice plate 7 will be lessened as the water continues to rise above said orifice plate. This action will continue until the water in the clear water well reaches the point M (dotted line) when the hydraulic valve 3 will be closed completely and will remain closed until the water level inthe clear water well is lowered. As the water is lowered in the clear water well, a reverse action takes place, and by the time the water is lowered to the orice plate, the filter will again be dis- .charging at the maximum rate. v

form of my invention in which the pilot valve is to be operated electrically and in this case the stem 12 carries the arm l30 which is adapted to engage the contacts 31 and 32 accordingly as said arm is raised/or lowered. These contacts 31 and 32 are moved into contact with the contacts 33 and 34 and the circuit is completed to the solenoids 35 and 36. The valves 37 and 38 are contained within the valve casing 39 and water is admitted by the pipe 40. valves 37 and 3S have the passages 41 which permits the water to pass into the space 42 above the valve and as the area on the upper surfaces of the valve is greater than the The lower one, the valve is held to its seat. ji

When, however, one ofthe solenoids is energized, Vas indicated in Fig. 5, the arm 43 being raised, lifts the valve 44 which controls the outlet from the space 42, and which permits the water -to escape, so that the pressure on the lower face of the valve will peri mit the valve to be raised into lthe position of the valve 37, Fig. 4, and water can then pass to the hydraulic valve 3 to control the Y supply of water flowing through the effluent pipe. The pipes 45 and 46 lead to the hydraulic valve 3.

The following are some of the advantages resulting from my invention:

First, it is not dependentV on the height of the water in the clear water well for'its operation.

Second, it will start and stop the discharge from the filter to which it is attached Y lery floor to be raised, thus giving more storage room in the clear water well and 4permitting a more sightly form of construc- Y tion to be used in the pipe gallery.

Fourth, it contains no complicated parts.

All moving parts are so located that they are easily accessible for inspection and repairs, and it is not liable to get out of order.

Fifth, the controller cannot become air bound, and cannot be affected by any air which might be entrained in the effluent pipe from' the filter. Thus it can be quickly and accurately adjusted to any desired rate of flow.

Sixth, the friction losses through the controller are very slight, and -it can be adjusted to operate with very low loss of head.

Seventh, the construction is such that it can be easily and cheaply installed without the services of an expert, and is so simple that any filter attendant can understand its operation and can make whatever repairs or adjustments which may be necessary from time to time.

Some of the other uses to which the controller may be applied are the following: It can be used to regulate the amount of raw water pumped into the coagulating basin, the amount of chemical fed, etc. By means of suitable gage or recording dial attached to the float rod, it will indicate and record the rate of iow at all times, thus serving the purpose of a meter. It can be used as a pressure reducing valve and regulator where it is desirable to reduce the pressure of water from a high to a low head and at the same time deliver a uniform amount of water.

IVhat I claim is:

1. In a controller, the combination of an inlet pipe having a water seal at the lower end thereof, a valve in said pipe, a reservoir into which said pipe leads, a float chamber, means for maintaining the same height of liquid in said chamber and inlet-pipe, a

float in said chamber, and means operated by said float to control said valve.

2. In a controller, the combination of an inlet pipe having a U-shaped portion, a

' valve in said pipe, a reservoir into which said pipe extends, said U-shaped portion of said pipe having a contracted outlet communicating with said reservoir, a float chamber, means for maintaining the same height of liquid in said chamber and inlet-pipe, a float in said chamber, and means operated by said float to control said valve.

3. In a controller, the combination of an inlet pipe having a U-shaped portion, a valve in said pipe, a reservoir into which said pipe extends, an orifice plate on said U-shaped portion, a float chamber, means for maintaining the same height of liquid in said chamber and said inlet-pipe, a iioat in said chamber, and means operated by said float to control said valve.

4. In a controller, the combination of an inlet pipe having a U-shaped portion forming a water-seal, a valve in said pipe, a reservoir into which said pipe extends, a float chamber communicating with said waterseal, a fioat in said chamber, and means operated by said float to control said valve.

5. In a controller, the combination of an inlet-pipe having a U-shaped portion forming the water-seal, a hydraulically operated valve in said pipe, a reservoir into which said pipe extends, a float chamber, means for maintaining the same height of the liquid in said chamber and said pipe, a fioat in said chamber, a pilot valve controlling the supply of fluid to operate said hydraulic valve, and connections between said oat and said pilot valve for operating the same.

6. In a controller, the combination of an inlet pipe having a U-shaped portion forming a water-seal, a hydraulically operated valve in said pipe, a reservoir into which said pipe extends, a float chamber, means for maintaining the same height of liquid in said chamber and inlet-pipe, a float in said chamber, a stem connected to said float, an adjustable arm on said stem, a pilot valve connected to said arm and controlling the supply of fluid to operate said hydraulic valve.

In testimony whereof, I the said Emma E. HARPER have hereunto set my hand.

ELMER E. HARPER.

Witnesses:

C. S. HARPER, F. L. MCCRAITH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

